The 80/20 solution: "Front sight focus, trigger squeeze."

If you've had the fortune of attending one of our 100-level training courses, you'd know that there are 5 marksmanship fundamentals, and several best-practices. Remembering all those things at once, to shoot your best, can be a daunting task, especially to a new shooter. One way to approach this, is to simplify the problem, then work up in complexity. Something that works good is an "80/20 solution". Is there 20% of the problem that you can focus on, and get 80% of the results?

With shooting, a lot of this is embodied in the saying "Front sight focus, trigger squeeze." It's probably a little more true of pistol shooting, than rifle shooting, but is a great start for both. The two most critical tasks for shooting are sight alignment, and breaking the shot without disturbing your aim. Focusing on the front sight post gives you the maximum opportunity to align the sights correctly, as opposed to focusing on the target for example. Squeezing the trigger smoothly, straight to the rear, and with continuously increasing pressure until the gun fires by surprise, will make sure you do not disturb your aim with poor trigger manipulation.

Work on these two things first, and once you're comfortably doing them both well, without much thought, then add in other tasks, such as improving breath control or following through after each shot. It's a great way to set yourself up for success.

Remember, "You don't rise to the occasion. You fall to your level of training."